I am linking to Crockpot Wednesday over at Dining with Debbie today.
I love using my crockpot. I love it in the summer so it doesn't heat up my kitchen too much, but I also love it this time of year for making simple soups that can simmer and blend all day, creating an aroma that gets me very excited to eat dinner!
One of my more recent favorites comes from Stephanie from A Year of Slowcooking: Creamy White Bean and Apple Chili. A great way to use some extra apples that were picked at the festival and a great blend of flavors!
Showing posts with label crockpot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crockpot. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Using a Whole Chicken
A while ago I posted about cooking a whole chicken in the crock pot. And I was SO excited! It smelled good, and tasted good, and it was so simple!!
Well, this time I decided to go even further with the chicken! After cooking it for about 8 hours in the slow cooker (making the house smell scrumptious!) I let it cool for just a bit. Then starting pulling off all the meat.
I put some of the meat into a soup that was on the stove-top waiting. I also had some more meat left over that will go great on a salad with the fresh lettuce from our garden!
Then I took everything else, everything that was left after I got the meat I wanted. Kinda gross, but my husband did this part, so that made it a little easier for me. All of that went into a pot, along with a bunch of celery leaves and a few stalks, a couple of whole (including the skins) onions, a couple of bay leaves, and water. I would have put in some carrots (unpeeled) but didn't have any left after my carrot mac and cheese and making baby food.
I brought all this to a boil, then turned it down and let it simmer for an hour or two (don't totally remember, didn't set a timer, just checked on it occasionally and then eventually decided it had been long enough).
Then poured it through a strainer so all the pieces and veggies and such would stay separate, of course! And poured and poured until I got all the broth out I could get.
I have these containers in the fridge for now. I will go back and scrape off the top (fatty part), then used some to make some homemade pea soup for my little one, some will go in the freezer for a later date, and some will stay in the fridge to have on hand.
SO, I got (A) meat for a soup (B) meat for salad (C) broth for pea soup (D) broth for the freezer (E) broth for now and (F) a wonderful feeling knowing that I did it all myself (with husband's help, of course) and made the best use of a whole chicken that I could! And the cost of all of this? The whole chicken was $3, the celery leave and inside stalks I probably would have thrown away otherwise, a few cents for the onions...by far under $5 for all of this!!
I'll post more about the pea soup later. For now, this is what works for me, head over to We Are THAT Family for more great ideas!
Well, this time I decided to go even further with the chicken! After cooking it for about 8 hours in the slow cooker (making the house smell scrumptious!) I let it cool for just a bit. Then starting pulling off all the meat.
I put some of the meat into a soup that was on the stove-top waiting. I also had some more meat left over that will go great on a salad with the fresh lettuce from our garden!
Then I took everything else, everything that was left after I got the meat I wanted. Kinda gross, but my husband did this part, so that made it a little easier for me. All of that went into a pot, along with a bunch of celery leaves and a few stalks, a couple of whole (including the skins) onions, a couple of bay leaves, and water. I would have put in some carrots (unpeeled) but didn't have any left after my carrot mac and cheese and making baby food.
I brought all this to a boil, then turned it down and let it simmer for an hour or two (don't totally remember, didn't set a timer, just checked on it occasionally and then eventually decided it had been long enough).
Then poured it through a strainer so all the pieces and veggies and such would stay separate, of course! And poured and poured until I got all the broth out I could get.
I have these containers in the fridge for now. I will go back and scrape off the top (fatty part), then used some to make some homemade pea soup for my little one, some will go in the freezer for a later date, and some will stay in the fridge to have on hand.SO, I got (A) meat for a soup (B) meat for salad (C) broth for pea soup (D) broth for the freezer (E) broth for now and (F) a wonderful feeling knowing that I did it all myself (with husband's help, of course) and made the best use of a whole chicken that I could! And the cost of all of this? The whole chicken was $3, the celery leave and inside stalks I probably would have thrown away otherwise, a few cents for the onions...by far under $5 for all of this!!
I'll post more about the pea soup later. For now, this is what works for me, head over to We Are THAT Family for more great ideas!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Lots and Lots of Chicken!!
A while back I found a good deal on chicken and I stocked up! I had just gotten my big freezer and needed to fill it up!!
I was slightly daunted by the fact that it was a lot of chicken, and I also wasn't used to buying chicken with the bone in, but I knew I wanted to make good use of it...eventually...
I used some of it to make some Raspberry Chicken, enough so that we had some the week I bought it, have had some since then, and there is still one more bag of it in the freezer. Very easy and great on the grill this time of year! Thanks OAMM!
In the mix of all the chicken I bought were 2 whole chickens! I have only bought chicken this way from the store...when it has already been roasted for me, and I want to shred it for something tasty on top of a salad or in a soup...I've never bought any meat whole before!
Well, after searching for a recipe (the easiest recipe I could possibly find) I landed back at my favorite crockpotting site for a simple-and what sounded like delicious-recipe!
So, I gave it a go last night. We have next to nothing in our fridge. I've been holding off for a new month, and some new motivation for planning and shopping. So, in the meantime, I decided it would be a good idea to have some chicken on hand for meals, and what better way than to let it cook itself all night long while I was in bed sleeping. Granted, it is a little weird to wake up and smell food cooking in the house, but I have used the crockpot before and gotten somewhat used to this.
When I came down in the morning, here is what I found.
MMMMM...smelled good...and even though it was only 7am I had to try a piece! Moist and delicious! It fell right off the bone, just like she had said it would! If It hadn't been 11 at night last night when I was putting it in to cook, I may have taken the skin off first since we don't normally eat it anyway (at least I try to not let my husband eat it!) and this would have put more flavor into the actual chicken. But I am very satisfied.
And. Even Better! I spent $3.02 on this chicken. Can't get a roasted chicken from any store at that price! Unless maybe it's been sitting out all day and it is cold and dry, but who wants a cold, dry chicken when you can have one that looks like this and tastes professionally done?! It really can't get much more simple than this!
I was slightly daunted by the fact that it was a lot of chicken, and I also wasn't used to buying chicken with the bone in, but I knew I wanted to make good use of it...eventually...
I used some of it to make some Raspberry Chicken, enough so that we had some the week I bought it, have had some since then, and there is still one more bag of it in the freezer. Very easy and great on the grill this time of year! Thanks OAMM!
In the mix of all the chicken I bought were 2 whole chickens! I have only bought chicken this way from the store...when it has already been roasted for me, and I want to shred it for something tasty on top of a salad or in a soup...I've never bought any meat whole before!
Well, after searching for a recipe (the easiest recipe I could possibly find) I landed back at my favorite crockpotting site for a simple-and what sounded like delicious-recipe!
So, I gave it a go last night. We have next to nothing in our fridge. I've been holding off for a new month, and some new motivation for planning and shopping. So, in the meantime, I decided it would be a good idea to have some chicken on hand for meals, and what better way than to let it cook itself all night long while I was in bed sleeping. Granted, it is a little weird to wake up and smell food cooking in the house, but I have used the crockpot before and gotten somewhat used to this.
When I came down in the morning, here is what I found.
MMMMM...smelled good...and even though it was only 7am I had to try a piece! Moist and delicious! It fell right off the bone, just like she had said it would! If It hadn't been 11 at night last night when I was putting it in to cook, I may have taken the skin off first since we don't normally eat it anyway (at least I try to not let my husband eat it!) and this would have put more flavor into the actual chicken. But I am very satisfied.And. Even Better! I spent $3.02 on this chicken. Can't get a roasted chicken from any store at that price! Unless maybe it's been sitting out all day and it is cold and dry, but who wants a cold, dry chicken when you can have one that looks like this and tastes professionally done?! It really can't get much more simple than this!
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